Ventilators are used for patient assisted breathing when a person is unable to breathe on his or her own volition. In order to facilitate interconnecting such a ventilator with a surgically implanted tracheostomy tube, various tubing and couplers are utilized. While such a breathing system facilitates patient assisted breathing, there are several problems associated with keeping the ventilator tubing properly attached to the tracheostomy tube. In this regard, often times, the ventilator tubing will "pop off" unexpectedly from the tracheostomy tube. For example, if there is resistance with the air supply being delivered, or if the patient takes a larger than usual breath, the ventilator tubing may become detached from the tracheostomy tube.
Other times the ventilator tubing may become dislodged. In this regard, because of bodily fluid secretions that build up and coat the interior of the tubing allowing it to easily slide, the tubing may become accidentally dislodged. Moreover, if a patient suddenly and unexpectedly begins to cough the rush of outward air may be sufficiently strong to cause the ventilator tubing to become dislodged from the tracheostomy tube.
In pediatric patients and infants, the mere weight of the tubing may be sufficient to cause it to become dislodged from the smaller more delicate tracheostomy tube required for infant assisted breathing. Also many times, a pediatric patient, because of loneliness will pull the tubing away from the tracheostomy tube to sound an alarm so that medical staff will come to the patient to provide desired but unnecessary attention.
Finally, particularly when dealing with infants and pediatric patients, the soft tender neck skin of the patient will breakdown, due to the skin of the patient making continual intimate contact with the hard plastic surface of the tracheostomy tube, and because of bodily fluid secretions at about the tracheostomy tube. Moreover, because infants have short necks, the under chin neck skin many times may become pinched between the interconnecting ventilator tube coupler and the tracheostomy tube housing.
Therefore it would be highly desirable to have a new and improved skin protection device that helps to facilitate maintaining a constant fluid and mechanical interconnection between the ventilator tube coupler and the tracheostomy tube while simultaneously helping to substantially prevent skin breakdown.
One attempt at solving the above-mentioned interconnection problem has been to utilize rubber bands to secure the tracheostomy tube to the ventilator tube coupler. While this method may help to retain the tracheostomy tube and the ventilator tube coupler in mechanical interconnection, such rubber bands easily break and snap against the tender skin of the patient. Such unwanted breakage causes undesired trauma that often distracts the attending medical staff from carrying out their normal responsibilities.
Another proposed solution has been to tie a string between the tracheostomy tube and the ventilator tube coupler to hold them together. This method has not proven to be entirely satisfactory, as many times the tracheostomy tube and ventilator tube coupler must be quickly detached from one another to facilitate the removal of bodily fluids from the airway passage of the patient. Moreover, the utilization of strings or rubber bands does not solve the problems associated with skin breakdown or pinching.
Therefore it would be highly desirable to have a new and improved skin protection device that helps protect the skin of the patient from becoming pinched between the interconnecting tracheostomy tube and ventilator tube coupler.